Justice Faded
by Crissella
Summary: will never be continued
1. Chapter 1

**JUSTICE FADED **

**by lobella aka crissella  
**

**Chapter 1 **

15 hours missing

Elena stood at the familiar door and took deep breathes in an attempt to calm herself. _It's alright, girl … you have to take this like another case. It's no big deal … you just have to concentrate on your job and forget everything else. _ She told herself as she slowly grabbed the doorknob and froze when a smiling face of their missing person appeared behind her closed eyelids. " Oh god …" she gasped as she leaned her forehead against the door and remained standing there without making an effort to make herself to go in.

" Danny …." She whispered as she closed her eyes again and let her tears fall free from her eyes.

Elena didn't move when she heard footsteps approaching her. She didn't react when a familiar voice called her name. She did however jump when a hand touched her shoulder and she quickly turned around to glare at the man " Sorry …" Martin said softly " I didn't mean to scare you …" he said and Elena smiled a little " It's alright …" she said " I was just … um … " she said and gasped when a finger brushed her cheek. They made an eye contact and then the woman turned away. She then grabbed the doorknob again and was about to enter the door when Martin stopped her.

" Why don't you go home, Elena ? " he asked and when the woman turned to look at him he cleared his throat "I mean … Viv is coming to meet me here … you don't have to …" he wanted to continue but Elena interrupted him " If I didn't let Jack to cut me off from this case, what makes you think that you can ?" she asked and when Martin didn't answer she nodded " Danny is my boyfriend … and I will find him. Ok ?!" she asked and marched into the apartment.

" Ok … " Martin answered softly to himself and then followed her in.

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10 minutes later

" Who is that ?" Vivian asked as Elena showed Martin and her the pictures she found from Danny's bedroom. " That's the point ! I have no idea … but if you keep looking the photos … you'll see him on every single one of them." She said and Martin nodded " You are right … here he is standing right in the background … by the cabin … at the bar … at that monument …" he said flipping through the pictures of his friends and then he looked up to Elena " You think we have a suspect" he stated more than questioned and Elena shrugged " Don't you ? I mean it's quite obvious that that man followed us around … and now Danny's is missing … you've got to be blind to not see some kind of a connection " she said and Vivian raised her hand

" Now hold on a minute" she said " Aren't these pictures taken from your vacation trip to Switzerland ?" she asked and Elena frowned slightly " Yeah … so ?" she asked and Vivian leaned in a bit closer to her " So … it's a public skiing resort. People move around … do the same things everyone else do … don't you think it could be just a coincidence that this man is at the same places that you chose to take pictures in ?" she asked and Elena's frown deepened as she glared at her.

" There's no such thing like coincidence …one would think that you as a more experienced agent on this field would know that …" she said, grabbed the pictures from Vivian's hand and rushed out of the apartment. Martin exchanged looks with Vivian and then ran after her.

" Elena ! Wait !" he yelled and the woman already standing at her car looked at him

" You should get back in there … find more clues" she said calmly and Martin frowned " Where are you going ?" he asked and Elena shrugged " I'm going to find Danny" she said and without letting Martin to reply she sat at the wheel and drove off, leaving her friend worriedly stare after her.

The young Fitzgerald stood there for a while and then dialed a number on his cell phone " Jack … it's me. I think we may have a problem" he said.

45 minutes later

" Where is he ?!" Elena asked pointing her gun at the ex-policeman who was standing at his car his hands now raised high. " You know if my parole officer sees you here … we are both in trouble. We aren't supposed to be this close to each other … court order, remember ?" Carlos said and Elena frowned. " Where is he ?!" she demanded and Carlos now frowned as well " Who ? My parole officer ?!" he asked. "No ! You idiot! Danny ! Where is he ?!" she asked taking few steps closer to her ex-husband, the gun firmly in her hand.

" Danny ?!" Carlos asked in confusion and Elena nodded " Yes … Danny … he is been missing for almost 16 hours and I know that you had something to do with it. So I am going to ask you again … Where the hell is he ?!" she asked and Carlos seemed taken back by that and he shook his head in disbelief " Missing ? Danny ? No way …" he said laughing.

Elena growled and pushed her gun into Carlos' chest " You think this is funny ?!" she asked " You think you made a huge joke by kidnapping the man I love ? Well … ha ha … you got your laugh … now tell me where he is ! " she yelled angrily and Carlos' face clouded over and he slowly let his arms fall down on his sides " I can't believe this. You seriously think I did something to Danny " he stated more than asked and Elena pressed the gun even harder on his chest as she leaned in closer to him " Why shouldn't I? You've got a motive " she hissed and Carlos just stared at her and then let out a startled bark of laughter " Jesus Christ … You think I 'd hurt my old buddy just to get back at you ?!" he asked and Elena pulled back a little and just stared back at him

" You kidnapped our daughter to get back at me ! Now you can't touch her and you pick the next person in line that I care about ! " she accused and Carlos chuckled shaking his head in disbelief again " In your mind … the world actually turns around you, doesn't it ? Never occurred to you that I may have something better to do than plan the ways how to get my revenge on you ?" he asked and Elena just stared at him.

" Get in the car" she said softly and Carlos frowned at her " What ?" he asked and Elena's eyes darkened " You're coming downtown with me … get in the car" she repeated waving her gun a little towards the vehicle behind them and she got a lot angrier when the man didn't move " Get in the god damned car. Now !" She yelled fully pointing her gun at the man she used to love and after a moment of hesitation Carlos finally did as he was told. When Elena had made sure that Carlos was buckled up on his seat and knew better not to try anything she gave a short nod and then careful not to loose her guard she turned and walked around the car to sit down on the passenger's seat.

" Drive" she ordered. At the feel of a cold metal pressing against his temple, Carlos swallowed down his objections and once again reluctantly complied.

60 minutes later

" Agent Delgado" Jack said loudly standing at the glass doors " In my office … now" he growled when the named woman sitting in the bullpen looked up to him. He was angry with her, Elena could tell. She shared a look with Vivian who had stopped analyzing the evidence she and Martin had found from Danny's apartment for a while and was now observing the scene before her. Then the taller woman sighed, stood up and slowly made her way towards her boss who was waiting for her to get a bit closer and then disappeared into his room, Elena soon followed.

" Close the door and sit down" Jack said without turning to look at her. Elena did like she was told. The silence that followed after that made the woman feel uncomfortable and she sighed again " Look … Jack … I " she wanted to explain her actions but the man cut her off " Shut up" he said " You are now officially embezzled from this case" he added and Elena looked at him in shock.

" What ? No …Jack … you … you … can't do that ! I brought you a suspect ! I …" she was not allowed to finish her sentence since Jack interrupted her again " What you did …" he roared " Was entirely unacceptable. We have absolutely nothing to lead us to believe that your ex-husband is responsible for Danny's disappearance." He said more calmly and when Elena was about to protest he raised his hand to give her the sign that he wasn't finished "And even if we did …" he continued slowly " You had no right to act the way you did" he said and Elena frowned.

" Why ? Because I used to be married to that jerk ?" she asked and Jack sighed " No … because FBI agent's don't act like this … yes … we threaten asshole's who are uncooperative … we use some violence when they think they can escape us without giving us the information we need… we mock them when they think they can outsmart us … but we do not … I repeat … we do not … kidnap people who we believe are guilty in crime. You hear me? On no matter what circumstances we do not lower ourselves on their level and we do not kidnap anyone" he said and Elena looked at him in disbelief.

" Jack, what are you talking about ? I didn't …" she started to say but Jack once again stopped him.

" You pulled out your gun and forced Carlos into his own car ! Sounds like a kidnapping to me!" he yelled angrily and Elena was shocked by that accusation. She never realized how her actions would look to other people. While standing there face to face with the man she had learned to hate, she wasn't able to make herself to care how it looked to others. All she had cared about was Danny. All she still cared about was finding him as soon as possible.

" At least I did something …" she muttered and when Jack heard that he raised his eyebrow " Excuse me ?!" he asked and Elena raised her lowered head to look at him

" You want me to apologize for what I did ? I can't do that … because I didn't do anything wrong. Carlos did something to Danny … just give me few minutes with him and I'll make him talk … I'll …" she was cut off like seemed the hundredth time to her " At this point … I am sure you are able to make him confess and take the guilt for every little thing that has gone wrong in this world. " Jack said and when Elena looked at his decision expectingly he shook his head " Sam and Martin are dealing with him as we speak. You … go home." He said softly and Elena frowned again.

" Jack …" she started to protest " Just do what I say !" Jack yelled and then rubbed his brow tiredly as he softened his face and voice again " I sent an agent to pick up your car, it's waiting for you in the parking lot. Just … go home, Elena … go be with your daughter. She needs you more than we do right now" he said and Elena just stared at him and then let out a resigned sigh "Fine" she said as she stood up " Just don't blame me for not trying to make you see what happened to Danny when you find him too late. Alright ?" she said coldly and then without letting Jack to reply she stormed out of his office and finally out of the building.

In the interviewing room

" This is the first time I see the guy" Carlos said sliding the picture back towards Samantha who was sitting on the opposite side of the table from him. " Are you sure ?" she asked and Carlos snorted " Yes I'm sure. A face this ugly would be hard to forget" he said and then looked at Martin who was standing by the window " I don't understand … If this man took Danny. Why are you wasting your time with me ? Why aren't you chasing down the bastard ?" he asked.

Martin shrugged " Let's just say you haven't really convinced us that you didn't hire this man to spy on our mutual friends and then pay extra to have him kidnap or even kill Danny." He said as calmly as he could force himself to be. Carlos looked at him and then at Samantha and then chuckled " Wow …you guys are lost" he said " Having Elena as a guide might not have been the brightest ideas of yours. Seriously … she's pushing you off the tracks … makes you take a wrong turn … leads you to a swamp and leaves you there sinking fast" he said and Samantha smirked.

" Oh how very poetic. Care to explain what the hell you mean by that ?" she asked and Carlos smiled " What I mean is … whatever she tells you … No matter what kind of facts she brings up against me … I didn't do it. I didn't kidnap … or kill Danny … and I certainly didn't hire anyone to do it for me. " he said and Martin nodded.

" Then you have no problem with us looking around in your house" he said and Carlos looked at him "Of course not … be my guest" he said already picking his keys out of his pocket and throwing them at the FBI agent who caught them from the air. The ex-policeman chuckled then " Hell … I'll even take the lie detector if it would make you feel any better …" he said and Samantha and Martin shared looks and then the woman shrugged " Couldn't hurt" she said and Carlos just smiled at her and then let out a satisfied sigh as he leaned back in his chair. Martin and Samantha just kept staring at him and then they left the room.

" Well … as much as it pains to admit this … I believe him." Samantha said as soon as the door fell shut behind them and they started to walk down the hall. Martin sighed

" Well I'm not convinced until I have had a thorough search in his house. He might hide it well … but I know he still feels like Danny has betrayed him … and I know he's still angry at him … " he said and speeded up his walk a little when his friend stayed behind he stopped and looked over his shoulder " You're not coming ?" he asked and Samantha sighed taking few steps closer to him.

" I just remembered Rafael … he has no idea what has happened to his brother, has he ?" she asked and Martin fully turned to face her. " You want to go and talk to him first ?" he asked and Samantha shrugged " Don't you think he has a right to know ?" she asked and Martin let out a sigh as well " Of course he has a right to know but …" he said and Samantha nodded interrupting him. " You go ahead … I'll talk to Jack, ask if he wants to take the prison visit and then I'll meet up with you at Carlos' place, ok ?" she asked and after a moment of hesitation Martin nodded. " Ok" he said and they smiled at each other before turning and walking on opposite directions.


	2. Chapter 2

**Justice Faded **

**Chapter 2**

18 hours missing

" And keep in mind to call me if you have more problems that make you want to grab for the bottle … I mean it Grace … you can call me any time" a tall dark man told a small red headed woman as he walked her out of the door of his office " Thank you, Frank" Grace said and after a polite handshake she left the building, giving the two FBI agents a smile as she passed them by.

Frank was about to go back to his office when Vivian stopped him " Mr. Travis ?" she asked and he turned to look at her " Yes ?" he asked in confusion and the woman smiled " Hi … I'm special agent Johnson, this is special agent Spade, we're with FBI" she said showing her badge " We were wondering if we could ask you some questions" she said and Frank crossed his arms on his chest " About ?" he asked. " About one of your clients who also happens to be a friend of ours, actually." Samantha said " Danny Taylor? " she added when the man's confusion seemed to deepen. When Frank heard the name his confusion was replaced by concern and he turned to his secretary.

" Alice " he said " Please reschedule my appointment with mr. Dellar for me . Tell him something urgent came up" he said and the curly haired woman sitting at the reception table nodded " Yes sir, right away sir" she answered already holding the phone receiver in one hand while dialing the number with the other. " Follow me" Frank said to the two women before him. Samantha and Vivian exchanged looks and then they did walked through the door after him.

" What kind of trouble is he in ?" Frank asked as soon as they all had sat down at his table. " We are not quite sure yet" Vivian said " But he's been missing for 18 hours" she added and Frank closed his eyes briefly. " So that's why he hasn't been returning to my calls" he said and Samantha and Vivian exchanged looks again. "That's actually why we're here" Samantha said " We ran through his phone records and your name came up a lot. The last call you made was just few hours ago. Could you tell us what that was about ?" she asked and Frank sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

" Danny is one of the most progressive and also most troublesome person I have been a sponsor for. " he said and Vivian raised her eyebrow at that " Troublesome ? How so?" she asked and Frank sighed again " Well … it's mostly because of his job that he has difficulties to keep himself on the line. He's told me about some of the cases you've been working on and I must tell you … I can't really blame him for having so many weak moments. And of course the problems of his brother just power up the temptation for the bottle." He sighed again " Anyway … Danny seemed to get more influenced by everything bad that was going on around him lately … and I knew that he needed more attention from me. So we got this agreement … whenever he felt like talking he sent me a message on my pager and I called him back whenever I had a free moment." He said and Samantha nodded in understanding. "When did the last message come in ?" she asked and Frank just stared at her for a while.

" Yesterday … 8 pm. I tried to reach him few minutes later but he didn't pick up. That has never happened before … so I got worried … I kept on trying and got no response … and to be honest I was going to try again just before you showed up" he said and rubbed his brow tiredly " Do you have any idea what might have happened to him ?" he asked and Vivian sighed.

" No … we don't have any strong leads yet" she said with regret and Frank nodded in understanding " Is there … " he cleared his voice " Is there a possibility that it's … um … it's too late for him ?" he asked and Vivian sighed again " Unfortunately there is always that possibility" she said. The silence that filled the room was strong enough to bother a deaf person.

" I … um …" Samantha said awkwardly as she started to feel uncomfortable in her seat " I want to show you something" she said pulling out her phone and then leaned over the table to give it to Frank " Do you recognize this man ?" she asked and the man stared at the screen where he saw a close up of the man from the pictures Elena, Vivian and Martin had found from Danny's apartment. Frank stared at the face for a while and then sighed.

" Yeah I recognize him … " he said giving the cellular back to it's owner " His name is Joseph Dellar " he said and Vivian and Samantha looked startled at that " Dellar ? The same man who was supposed to come to an appointment but you rescheduled ?" Vivian asked and Frank smiled slightly " The very same" he said and then frowned " Why ? Is he … is he in trouble too ?" he asked and the two FBI agent's exchanged looks.

" Well … he might be. " Samantha said " We have a reason to think that Mr. Dellar was following Danny and his family around while they were on a vacation in Switzerland" she explained when she noticed Frank's puzzled gaze. " So … so you think of Joseph as a suspect ?" he asked in disbelief. Neither of the women answered. Understanding the meaning of their silence Frank stood up and walked to his window to look out of it.

" Jesus Christ …" he chuckled softly, mirthlessly. " And here I was thinking that I would be happy to get home earlier today" He said as he turned back to look at Samantha and Vivian " It doesn't really happen too often that two sessions in a row are canceled you know" he said and Samantha frowned. " Two ?" she asked and Frank nodded.

" Yeah … Danny was supposed to come in right after Joseph" he said and Vivian shared a look with Samantha. " Is that a coincidence or …" she started to ask " No actually … Joseph became my client just three months ago. And he insisted that Tuesdays at 1 pm is a perfect time for him … The second date is on Friday at 3 pm. Danny's is Thursday

6 pm " Frank answered before letting the question be fully formed. Vivian smiled slyly " Ok …" she said and Frank smiled back at her, obviously enjoying the sight before him. Samantha noticed the suspicious transaction taking place between the two of them and took a moment to digest what was going on. She then shook her head in denial and disbelief a little and then cleared her throat to get some attention.

" What can you tell us about Joseph ? What's he like ?" she asked when Vivian and Frank turned to look at her. Frank shrugged " He's ok … I guess …" he said and Vivian couldn't help but smirk " Ok ? Is that your professional opinion or ..:" she paused intentionally this time leaving the end of her sentence open. Frank chuckled " No … this is just the only adjective that popped in my head suitable enough to describe him." He said and at coincidently raised eyebrows he cleared his throat " The reason for that is very simple … I haven't had a chance to get him know well enough to say anything else " he said and Samantha looked stunned at that.

" You just said you've known him for three months" she said and Frank shook his head " No … no no no no …" he said in amusement as he sat back down " What I did say … is that he became my client three months ago. It doesn't momentarily mean that I know him. People who have addiction problems … they are not very eager to open up themselves to anyone. Especially not to someone who has papers telling them they are fitting to help them through all this. It takes time to earn their trust and make them talk about themselves …" he said and Samantha commented that with a hum. " It took almost a year before I had won Danny's complete trust" he brought up as an example and Samantha made an eye contact with him for a second and then turned her head away.

" Do you know if Joseph and Danny were acquainted with each other ?" Vivian suddenly asked and Frank looked at her " I would think so … considering the fact that Joseph didn't go home until Danny and I had finished…He always sat in a lobby … waiting for him. On Tuesdays … they always left together" he said and Vivian was surprised " Are you sure?" she asked and Frank shrugged " You can ask Alice for the confirmation if you like … " he said and Vivian smiled as she and Samantha stood up " Thank you for your cooperation you've been very helpful" she said and Frank stood up to shake her hand.

" I just hope that I was helpful enough to make it easier for you to find Danny in time" he said moving to shake hands with Samantha too " You've given us a lot to work with " the blond agent affirmed and with that she and her partner walked out of the office. Before leaving the building they stopped by the reception table and got the information they needed from the woman sitting behind it. While they were walking to the parking lot, Vivian did her best to ignore Samantha's intense eyes on her. When they arrived to their car they couldn't take it anymore and she turned to look at her.

" What ?" she asked and Samantha smiled " Nothing … it's just …" she paused and shook her head " Never mind …" she said softly as she opened the door and started to sit at the wheel. Vivian stopped her "Oh come on, honey … you obviously want to ask me something. So go ahead … let me hear it" she said and Samantha sighed as she slammed the door back shut and looked over the roof of the car at the woman standing on the other side.

" I was just wondering … was that a flirty Mrs. Johnson I saw back in there ?" she asked in amusement and Vivian smirked " Very good … you recognized the attempt … I'm glad the marriage hasn't made me completely incompetent on that field over the

years …" she said and Samantha grinned " I have never seen you act like this ! What brought it on ?!" she asked and Vivian shrugged "It was efficient, wasn't it … besides … the guy was quite cute, don't you think ?" she asked and grinned when Samantha lowered her eyes as she blushed " I … I didn't really pay attention …" she said and Vivian was barely able to keep herself laughing "Mhhmhhh …" she commented in a way that gave Samantha a sign that she wasn't being believable in the least.

" Alright …" she said with a frustrated sigh " Alright … I admit he was .... handsome" she said and Vivian smiled at her in a too satisfied way " And way too young to be doing this kind of job …" Samantha added as she finally sat in the car. After a moment Vivian joined her in. " I know … he looks like he's not older than 26 … but I guess he is … unless of course he was 16 when he became the guiding light out of the darkness for Danny… " she said and Samantha nodded " Danny …" she repeated seriously as she looked at her partner " That's who we need to concentrate on … Danny" she said and Vivian nodded back at her " Yeah … let's get back to work" she said and these were words that had power enough to make Samantha start the car and drive off the parking lot.

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At the headquarters

" Why am I still here ?" Carlos asked as soon as Martin and Jack entered the interviewing room. " Is it hard to believe that we enjoy your company ?" Jack asked and the ex-police sneered " Right … too bad I can't say the same" he said his eyes on the elder FBI agent who took a seat opposite side of the table. Martin remained standing behind their suspect and then walked a bit closer to him to place a picture in front of him.

Carlos sighed and rolled his eyes " I told you … I don't know who that man is " he said and Martin gave a short nod. " Yeah … but guess what …" he said and then leaned closer to the ex-policeman's ear " … you lied" he whispered and Carlos's head whipped around to glare at him.

" Oh yeah ? How do you figure that ?" he asked and turned around to look at Jack when he was the one to answer " I had a nice visit to state prison today" he said " Saw a man named Rafael Alvarez … know who he is ?" he asked and Carlos snorted " Of course I know who he is."he said and then turned serious " How is he ?" he asked and Jack shrugged " I went there to announce that his little brother is missing … probably held somewhere against his will … tortured … beaten … maybe already killed" he paused

" Yeah … I'm sure Rafi is just peachy" he said and Carlos just stared at him. Martin and Jack stared back at him. " Anyway …" Jack continued " I showed him the picture and unfortunately he didn't recognize the man … but when I asked him if he knew anyone from the past who would want to harm Danny … he told me a rather interesting story from ten years ago …imagine my surprise when I found out that you were in it. True … not as a main character … but you had your moments …" he said and when he noticed the man blanch, he smirked.

" I was looking forward to tell you the story … but from you reaction I gather you already know what I'm talking about" he said and Carlos swallowed down the lump that had formed in his throat " Yeah … I have a pretty good idea " he croaked out and Martin who was still standing beside him smiled slightly and placed a plastic bag containing a gun, a phone and a badge. The picture on the latter giving out the owner of the things, they belonged to Danny. .

" If you are such a smart guy … I bet you have pretty good idea where we found these as well then …" he said while sitting next to his boss and Carlos stared at him " In my house … somewhere …" he said softly. " And he wins a prize !" Jack cheered mockingly " Another guess how they got there and you might just get yourself a jackpot, buddy" he said and Carlos crossed his arms on his chest protectively.

" For all I know … you guys could have planted them there yourself just to have a reason to get me arrested" he said and then silently kicked himself for voicing the first thought that came in his mind. Martin and Jack just glared at him, their faces transmogrified into masks of anger " Agent Fitzgerald" Jack said darkly without taking his eyes off from Carlos " Yes, agent Malone ?" Martin asked in an equal tone of voice.

" Please tell me I misheard Mr. Aguilar and he did not just suggest that we are playing dirty" Jack said and Martin clenched his fists under the table trying to tame the furious beast inside him that seemed to want to break free and attack the man for having a nerve to say something like that. " No …" he said as calmly as he could " I'm quite sure I heard it too" he added and Jack nodded " I thought so" he said and started to stand up slowly at the same as his younger partner did. Together they moved closer to their suspect who helplessly tried to find a way how to get out of this mess he had just gotten himself into.

" That's quite strong accusation… " Jack said after a moment of silence as he now stood on Carlos' left side while Martin looked down to him from the right " You've got something to back it up with ?" he asked and Carlos swallowed hard before looking back and forth the two pissed off agents and then shook head " No … guys … you got me wrong … you … you got me really wrong …" he said and Martin raised his eyebrow at that " Oh really ? How ?" he asked and Carlos looked at him " I … " he said and then sighed " All I meant by what I said is … that I lost my keys to my house last night and …" he wanted to continue but Martin cut him off.

" Bullshit !" he yelled pulling out the named items from his pocket and slamming them down on the table making Carlos jump in his seat " They are right here, see ?" Martin hissed angrily " You handed them over when you gave us permission to look around without a warrant, remember ?!" he paused and chuckled mirthlessly as he backed away a little " You son of a bitch …" he said softly and chuckled again and turned to look at the ex-police man.

" This was a part of your plan all along, wasn't it ? You kidnapped Danny … then killed him … dumped his body god only knows where …and then you drove back home to get rid of his things. But you didn't get that far. Elena was there first. She confronted you and brought you here … but you were prepared … you knew exactly what you were going to do when you were caught off guard … you knew you were just going to act as innocent as you could and then play dumb and push the quilt on someone else ! And since there is plenty corrupted police men in New York then why not imply on a corrupted FBI agent for a change … right ? Why not blame me ! ? Right ? !" he said and Carlos just shook his head and let out a chuckle of his own

" Man … you're way off your rocket" he said and then gasped as he was suddenly pulled out of the chair by the lapels of his jacket he was wearing and pressed up against the nearest wall. " Martin !" Jack said but the younger man didn't pay attention to him. Instead he tightened his hold on Carlos and trapped him between the wall and his own body, making sure that he had nowhere to escape " Where is he ?!" he snarled but Carlos just stared at him " I don't know " he said simply and Martin narrowed his eyes " I don't believe you" he hissed. " I swear to god … I didn't kill Danny !" Carlos said. " Then who did ?!" Martin asked and the ex-policeman just shook his head " I don't know … I really don't know …" he said and then groaned in pain when Martin pulled him away from the wall just to slam him forcefully against it again. Jack was just about to tell his partner to knock it off when the phone rang.

" Keep it down a moment" he said to Martin who mumbled an agreement and just glared at Carlos without letting him go. Jack walked to the other end of the room to pick up the receiver " Yeah ?" he asked. " Jack, come outside for a second" Samantha's voice came over the line and he sighed " Ok" he said and hang up. He then walked to the door and turned to look at Martin, he opened his mouth to say something but seeing that the younger man had calmed down a little and probably wasn't going to use rougher methods on their suspect, he shut the door behind himself in silence.

"Hey" he said as the blond woman stood at the glass wall, looking into the interviewing room " Hey" she said giving him a glance and then turning back to watch the two men inside " What is Martin doing ?" she asked and Jack shrugged " Interrogating our suspect by using a little thing called scaring tactics " he said and Samantha raised her eyebrow as he turned to look at him "And you allow this because …" she paused to let Jack finish the sentence with an explanation and of course she wasn't going to be disappointed " Our suspect accused us of planting evidence to make him look guilty. If Martin wasn't quicker than me … you could see me on his place right now. The guy asked for it" he said. " Ah …" Samantha commented and nodded in understanding.

" So … what you've got for me ?" Jack asked after a moment of silence looking down at the folder that Samantha was holding. " Oh … um … Danny's sponsor identified the man on the picture as Joseph Dellar … so Viv and I ran him through the database. His real name is Antonio Marquez He's been arrested for shop lifting in the past but …" she wanted to continue but Jack cut her off.

" Wait a second … Marquez ? Are you sure ?!" he asked and Samantha nodded " Yeah … I've got his file right here and as I was saying …" she wanted to continue but once again the man he was talking to interrupted " Do we have an older picture of him on this file ? On which he is … let's say … 20 or something like that ?" he asked and feeling confused, Samantha frowned slightly " I think so … why ?" she asked. Jack who had grabbed the folder of her hands ignored her as he looked through the pages and then grinned " Gotcha" he said as he found what he was looking for and then turned and rejoined Martin and Carlos inside. Samantha looked through the glass wall to see Martin let go of Carlos and both of them sit down at the table at the same time as Jack did. She remained standing there for a little while and then she turned and walked back to the bullpen.

" Well ?" Vivian asked curiously as Samantha walked to her own desk and opened the drawer where she held her gun in. " Jack said we're good to go" she said and a satisfied smile appeared on Vivian's face as she stood up, put on her coat and grabbed her weapon just before she followed Samantha to elevator and then out of the building.

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15 minutes later

" Oh man … " Carlos said as he finally sat back in his chair and looked at Martin and Jack " I can't believe it … it's really him. It's Antonio" he said and Martin nodded

" So how come you didn't recognize him the two first times I showed you the picture ?" he asked and Carlos shrugged " I don't know …" he said " I mean … it's been ten years I last saw him … and he's changed a lot. It seems to me that he has gone through some upgrades " he said and Jack raised his eyebrow " What … you mean plastic surgery ?" he asked and Carlos hummed in confirmation .

" Look for yourself" he said sliding the two pictures towards Martin and Jack who were sitting on the opposite side from him again " See how different his nose look ? And his lips are thinner … And look at his ears … smaller than ten years ago, don't you think ?" he asked. The two FBI agents took a moment to observe the pictures and then exchanged looks with each other.

Jack sighed " Right… if there are so many changes how can you tell that it's him ?" he asked and Carlos shrugged " Well his general face lines haven't changed much. And his eyes … they haven't changed either. . I guess I couldn't recognize him at first because I didn't really remember his eyes … but now that I have a picture to compare with … yeah … it's definitely him" he said, stood up and started to pace the room. After a moment he stopped and looked at the two other men there.

" You really think Antonio kidnapped Danny and then framed me to get back at us for what happened ten years ago ?" he asked and Jack shrugged " I don't know ... why don't you tell us what exactly happened ten years ago " he suggested and Carlos frowned.

" I thought Rafael already clued you in" he said and Jack nodded " He did ... as much as he could tell me based on the things that Danny was willing to share with him. But you as one of the participants are surely able to give us much more detailed review" he said and Carlos sighed as he sat down again.

" Ok " he said " The long story short … Antonio, Danny and I were best friends until Antonio's sister Marcella came along. She started to hit on both of us … mostly on Danny. Needless to say Antonio wasn't really happy about it. Danny didn't like it either … at first. He didn't feel comfortable being desired by his friend's sibling. But then … one night … something changed. The four of us were clubbing out together. You know … we lived pretty wild lives back then " he said and Martin smirked " So we have heard" he said and Carlos nodded.

" Right" he said " So we were in the club, dancing … laughing … drinking … having a great time. I think it was a little after midnight when we couldn't find Danny and Marcella anywhere . Antonio got furious. He assumed they had just gone away together and left us there. I wasn't so sure … I just tried to calm him down and tried to convince him that Marcella might have gone to bathroom while Danny was outside enjoying his cigarette" he said and Jack nodded.

" And ? Who was right, you or him ?" he asked already knowing the answer and Carlos sighed " Him …unfortunately" he said. " The next day Danny appeared back into our dorm room … reeking of sex. I asked who was the lucky girl … he looked straight into my eyes and just confessed" he said and Martin smiled " Ok … they slept together …that doesn't sound a good enough reason to me to come the crazy brother back ten years later for a revenge" he said. Jack and Carlos exchanged looks and Martin frowned.

" What ?" he asked in confusion and Jack sighed " I'm sorry I guess I forgot to tell you the main point of the story" he said and Martin's frown deepened as he looked at Carlos " Few hours after Danny's arrival we had visitors. Cops. They came in to arrest both of us accused for raping and murdering Marcella Marquez " he said and the younger FBI agent's eyes grew wide at that. " Jesus … someone killed her ?!" he asked and Carlos nodded.

" Yeah …" he said and Martin let out a sigh " Oh no … don't tell me Danny …" he paused and looked from Jack to Carlos and back to Jack again. " Not according to

Rafael …" his boss said and then looked at the ex-policeman " What do you say ?" he asked and Carlos shook his head " No … Danny said he was innocent and I believed him" he said " Police didn't have too strong evidence against him. They only had his DNA on the girl's body and on the condom found in the trash. And also Antonio's statement that they left together and they were both drunk. But that was it. There was no physical signs that Danny had used violence on her and there wasn't anything to prove that he was the killer" he said and Martin nodded.

" What about you ? Why were you arrested at all ?" he asked and Carlos shrugged

" Antonio had dragged me into this. He was obviously mad at me for stepping up for Danny and delaying his search for them. I just couldn't let one of my friends go after another one … Antonio was so pissed he would have probably killed Danny if I wasn't there to stop him. So … I kept him in the club as long as I could and remembering that after having the awful news about her sister probably made Antonio think that I had a part in it … that I knew Danny planned to rape his sister and then kill her. Hell … maybe he even thought that I helped Danny to make it look like a suicide" he said and Jack raised his eyebrow at that.

" Suicide ? How exactly was Marcella Marquez killed ?" he asked and Carlos sighed

" Clear shot to the head. The gun was found beside her. There was no fingerprints found. Not even hers" he said and Jack and Martin exchanged looks. "Did they ever catch the real murderer ?" the younger man of them two asked and Carlos shook his head " Not that I know of … no " he said sadly.

"So Antonio might still be convinced that you and Danny are responsible and has decided to take the law in his own hands and give you the punishment you deserve" Jack stated more than asked and Carlos shrugged " I don't know … I guess it's

possible …" he said and Jack nodded in agreement while Martin frowned as a realization hit him.

" Hold on a minute" he said " There were no signs of a break in …" he said and when the two other man stared at him in confusion he sighed " In your house … there wasn't anything to indicate forced entry. All the windows were closed and in one piece. The front door was locked, so was backdoor. In order to frame you … Antonio had to get in your house somehow. How do you suppose could he have done that without breaking

in ?" he asked and Carlos sneered.

" Well if you had listened to me a little while ago instead of acting like a mad man and attacking me … then you would know that the keys I gave you are my spare pair. I lost the keys that I usually carry along with me. I keep the spear keys at my parents' house and I was there last night. I arrived back just a little bit before my beloved ex-wife showed up and brought me here." he said and at Martin's muttered " Yeah, right" he sighed " You can call my mother or father if you don't believe me" he said and Martin smiled at him sweetly. " Oh … don't worry … I intend to" and with that he stood up and walked out of the room leaving Jack and Carlos stare after him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Justice Faded **

**Chapter 3**

21 hours missing

Pain ...

Cold ...

Shame ...

Misery ...

Agony ...

Fear ...

Human being is special like that ...

It's capable of having all that kind of emotions ...

... capable of having this kind of feelings ...

A blessing ... ?

A curse ... ?

_It's __inevitability_

…thought the man who had just opened his eyes to find himself chained, hanging from the ceiling by his hands … completely naked … bruised … and abused …

A strong stench of blood won the man's attention and he whipped his head back and forth to see himself being surrounded by freshly skinned meat …

Pigs …

Cows …

Sheep …

Even rabbits … by the looks of it …

The man shivered … but not only because of the temperature in the huge freezer … but the image of being served on the dinner table …

He could practically feel knives cutting his own skin …

Sharp steel cutting right through his bones …

He could see his capturer and some other people picking up his flesh with their forks, putting them into their mouths … and chewing …

Chewing away …

He could actually feel teeth biting into his flesh … over … and over … and over again … until it was ok to swallow …

The man shivered again … it wasn't as cold as it could have been … he wasn't going to be turned into a popsicle any time soon … but it was still cold enough to make him dream of the soft and warm bed …

A moment of silence … before the freezer was filled with hysterical laughter …

It took only a second for Danny to realize that it came from him …

_What a nice way to die … _ he thought sarcastically as he kept on laughing

_What a nice way to pay for the crime I didn't have any part of ... the crime I didn't commit … _

He added … and suddenly he didn't find any humor of the situation he found himself in anymore …

" Oh god …" he groaned as he realized that he wasn't going to be getting away that easily … Antonio was going to come back at some point … and he was going to make him scream again … Danny was sure of it.

_He's not going to be satisfied until he has managed to completely break me … _

_He's coming back … oh god … he's coming back … _

He thought …

He let out a whimper at the memory of the last time Antonio had visited him while he was being held as prisoner and squeezed his eyes shut again without making an effort to hold back the tears flowing down his cheeks.

*******************************************************************************************************************

Antonio's place

" Found something ?" Samantha asked as she saw Vivian coming down the stairs half an hour after the beginning of their search through. The shorter woman holding a gun in her hand shook her head. " Every single room is so unnaturally clean … I'm starting to think this house was never used for a hide out or living …" she said and Samantha hummed in agreement " Either that or our suspect is nothing like a normal guy and complete fan of neatness" she said. Vivian who was now standing next to her longer college sighed " I hate going back empty handed" she said and Samantha just stared at her.

" I didn't check the basement yet … thought you'd want to join me" she said and Vivian grinned " Oh how considerate of you …" she said and Samantha grinned back at her

" Come on … this way " she said walking back towards the living room. Vivian was more than happy to follow.

" Do you have a flashlight with you ? I forgot mine … It's very dark down there and the bulb seems to be out " Samantha said pushing the switch back and forth without an effect. Vivian pulled the asked item from her pocket " I never leave home without it" she explained before turning it on and starting to walk down the stairs towards their destination, Samantha wasn't far behind.

They slowly took step after step and everything seemed to go just fine when suddenly Samantha saw Vivian's leg giving out on her and before she could grab her hand, Vivian lost her balance and fell down the stairs with a scream. " Viv !" Samantha yelled as she bowed to pick up the flashlight which had flown out of her friend's hand and hearing her friend only groan in pain she quickly followed her down, carefully avoiding the crack on which her friend had tripped on.

" Viv" she repeated as she reached her " Viv … are you alright ?!" she asked crouching down and placing her hand on Vivian's shoulder. " I think I broke my leg" her friend panted out miserably and Samantha's eyes grew wide at that. " Be still … I'll go and call the ambulance" she said, stood up and rushed back up the stairs.

************************************************************************

20 minutes later

" Alright …thank you doctor … yes … goodbye … " Jack said as he hang up his phone and stared at Samantha who he had summoned back to the headquarters before she could find out more about her friend's condition. " You'll be happy to know that Viv was right … she broke her leg … they are putting her on plaster cast as we speak …so … she's out of the game" he said seriously and Samantha frowned.

" You're saying this like it was my fault !" she said and Jack raised his eyebrow at that " Do you actually have a nerve to say that it was not ?" he asked and Samantha just stared at him. Jack sighed " What were you doing in that house anyway ?" he asked and Samantha shrugged " Looking for evidence to tie Mr. Marquez with Danny's disappearance" she said and Jack just stared at her " And why … wasn't I notified about your plans to do that ?" he asked and Samantha stared at him.

" I tried, Jack … but you dismissed me without giving me a chance to discuss this with you … so … I just assumed you wouldn't mind if we called the shots for a change" she said and Jack sighed again " Why do people keep jumping into rash conclusions and stupid actions in times like this ? When someone close to them has gone missing ?" he asked from no one particular. Samantha with Martin and Carlos who had sat silently this didn't know what to say.

" I should cut you off this case as I did with Elena …" he said to Samantha who opened her mouth to protest but Jack raised his hand to show that he wasn't finished. " … but I can't afford to do that … not now … we're short handed as it is … time's ticking away … I need you ... " he said and then looked at Carlos " And you … consider yourself as a part of our team … temporarily …" he said and then glared at Martin who seemed to have some objections about that decision. " Do you want to find Danny or not ?" he asked and Martin frowned " Of course I do" he said and Jack nodded " Great … then start to learn working with people you don't like …" he said and then walked back into his office leaving three stunned people stare after him.

" Did you at least find something worth looking at in that basement ?" Martin suddenly asked and Samantha turned to look at him " You bet … I took some pictures while waiting for the ambulance to arrive…" she said sitting between the two men and pulling out her camera. Carlos and Martin both leaned closer to her to see better. " Hell … these are all the articles about Antonio's sister … and the investigation …" Carlos suddenly said and Samantha nodded. "Yeah … and I found a picture of you and Danny on his table … your faces were completely scratched out but your names were written on the back of it … so that' s how I knew they were you … and …" she paused and Martin frowned.

" And what ?" he asked impatiently . Samantha sighed " There was a message …" she said " It was in Spanish so I wrote it down to give it to someone to translate it for me …" she said and handed a piece of paper to Carlos who took it, read it and paled.

"¿Cómo siente para estar en el lado receptor para un cambio?" he said softly and Martin's frown deepened " In English ?" he asked and Carlos sighed " What does it feel like to be on the receiving end for a change ?" he said and Samantha also frowned now " And what is that supposed to mean ?" she asked. " It means that Danny is in a lot bigger trouble than we thought" he said running his fingers through his hair and let out another sigh. Martin and Samantha just stared at him for a while and then exchanged looks. Their eyes betraying their feelings … confusion … worry …

…. Fear ….


	4. Chapter 4

**Justice Faded **

**Chapter 4 **

23 hours missing

„ You want to do what ?!" Martin asked in disbelief after he, Samantha and Carlos had reported about their discovery. „ We should have done it as soon as we had put the name and face of our suspect together ... it's only way we could actually have him located ... " he said and Martin frowned „ No ... it's the only way we could get Danny killed !" he said and Jack just stared at him for a while. „ If he's not dead already ... you mean ?!" he asked calmly „ You're right ... this could get Danny killed ... but that's just something we have to risk with ... if we want to find him" he said. Martin's frown deepened and he was about to say something else but Carlos interrupted him.

„ Due all the respect, agent Malone ... I think agent Fitzgerald is right ..." he said ignoring surprised looks from all the others in the room „ It would be stupidity to hang up Antonio's pictures all over the city right now ... chances are that he will see them and that's not good ..." he continued „ I mean ... the guy is a lunatic who has propbably planned this revenge for years ... As far as I can remember ... Antonio has always been in a favor of the principle that criminals should be punished exactly the same ay they had threated their victims ... so ... I'm pretty sure that he wants to make Danny suffer as his sister did before being killed ... and that means ..." he wanted to continue but Samantha cut him off.

„ Oh my god !" she gasped „ You ... you're not really suggesting that ... " she paused not even able to get the words over her lips and Carlos sighed „ Trust me agent Spade ... noone hopes that I'm wrong about this more than I do ... but ... I can't deny that it's very much possible that Danny ... is being sexually abused." he said and that statement was followed by silence which would have bothered a deaf person.

„ So ..." Jack finally said uncomfortably sihfting in his chair and staring at Carlos „ If you think we should not put up the posters of Antonio ... what do you propose we do ?" he asked and Carlos sighed as he stood up and started to pace the room nervously.

„ I know I should have told you guys this earlier ... and I'm not even sure why I didn't ... but ... Antonio has a brother. His name is Diego ... and as far as I know ... he lives somewhere near the border of Mexico ... I don't know if he knows where his brother might be ... but I think it's worth trying to find out" he said stopping his walking and looking at Jack who was just staring at him.

„ You are right ..." Jack then said calmly „ You should have told us that earlier... could have saved us some time ... could have given us bigger chance of finding Danny alive" he said and Carlos nodded. „ I know ... and ... I'm sorry ... I really am" he said and Martin let out a snort. „No you're not ..." he said turning in his seat to glare at Carlos

„ You withold that information on purpose" he accused. „ Martin ..." Samantha said softly placing her hand on his ex-boyfriend's arm trying to stop him from standing up and make him calm down. Her friend however brushed her off and stalked towards ex-police man who just stared at him.

„ Oh really ? And why should I have done that ?" Carlos finally asked as he found himself standing nose to nose with extremly pissed off FBI agent. „ Because ..." Martin growled „ Because deep down you don't want Danny to be found ... deep down you just wish you could stall us a little longer and keep us off the tracks so Antonio had some time to finish his job ..." he said. „ That's ridiculous" Carlos said staring back at Martin who kept his eyes on him.

„ Is it ?" Martin asked as he pulled away from the other man a little „ I mean you can't just stand here and expect us to believe that there are no hard feelings between you two anymore ... that you are not even a little bit mad at Danny for acting like he did ... You thought he was your friend ... that he understood you ... you thought of him as your brother ... and what does he do ? He steals your wife ... he starts playing father to your daughter ... he betrays you without feeling guilty about it ... he stabbs you in the back when you least expect him to ... and that must have been painful ... I mean seriously ... that must have hurt ... a lot ..." he said and Carlos just stared at him.

„ Alright Yeah ... it did" he said and then frowned „ And I see how this all could look as a motive to you ... but for the hundreth of times ... I swear ... I had nothing to do with it. I didn't do anything to Danny ... I have no idea where he is ... and I really do want to help you to find him" he said and Martin was about to say something else when Jack interrupted him.

„ Then what the hell are you waiting for ?" he asked „ You want to help us ... get us the exact address of Diego Marquez and have a little chat with him" he said and Carlos nodded „ Yes sir ..." he said already leaving the room. Jack stared after him for a while and then looked at Samantha. „ Go with him" he said shortly and Samantha with a soft smile diid as she was told.

„ I don't believe I was talking to you ..." Jack said as he noticed Martin starting to walk out of his office as well. „ Sit down" he added gesturing at the chair. Martin just stared at him for a while and then did as he was told too. Jack was silent for a while and then sighed „ I know that you don't like Carlos ... to be honest I'm not that fond of him myself. He has proven to be an ass more than once ..." he said and Martin smirked

„ That's one way to put it ..." he said and Jack smirked back at him before falling back serious again. „ He's most certainly not the most pleasant person to be in the same room with ... but ... I have to tell you that you're wrong about him. He's innocent." He said and Martin now frowned.

„ How do you know ?" he asked. Jack just stared at him for a while „ I just do ... alright ?" he said and Martin's frown deepened „ No ... it's not alright. What if you're wrong ? What if he's already killed Danny and now wants to do the same with Sam ..." he said and then his eyes grew wide „ Sam ..." he said standing up „ I can't believe you sent her alone with him ...I can't believe you put her in this kind of danger ... I have to warn her ..." he said turning around rushing to the door when Jack's voice stopped him.

„ Get your ass back on that chair ...Now !" Agent Malone roared slamming his fist against the table. Martin froze and didn't move at all . „ I need to help Sam ... she's in danger" he said softly and Jack let out a sigh. „ Sam is a big girl ... she can take care of herself" he said rubbing his brow tiredly. Martin turned his head to glare at the older man but didn't say anything „ Martin ..." Jack said „ Do you honestly believe I would have given her this assignment if I thought Carlos would be any threat to her ? Do you really think I would make it easier for the criminal to take out people from my own team ? Do you think I would just give him my agents on a silver plate like that ? Come on ... Martin ... Surely you know me better than that ... don't you ?" he asked and Martin now turned fully to face him again.

„ I thought I knew you Jack ... but right now ?" he paused and shook his head a little „ I don't know what to think" he admited honestly. Jack stood up, walked until he was standing right in front of Martin and looked deep into the younger man's eyes. „If Carlos really had Danny ... don't you think he would try to get away from here to go and check on him ? Don't you think he'd be nervous ?" he asked and Martin stared at him.

„ He doesn't have to check on Danny if he has Antonio Marquez keeping watch" he said and Jack nodded „True ... but don't you think he would try to warn his partner in crime? Call him ? Warn him that we are on him ? He's been in here for hours and not even once as he asked for a phone ... " he said .Martin was silent for a while. „ He could do that today ... through Diego Marquez ... for all I know ... Antonio's brother could be in this too ... all three of them could be involved ... they all have motives ... " he said and Jack let out a sigh.

„ You're hopeless" he said shaking his head in a bit of amusement and when Martin was about to say something he placed his hand on his agent's shoulder. „ Come on ... we've got some things to take care of" he said and Martin raised his eyebrow „ Like ?" he asked and Jack smiled softly „ We need more people on this case ... I want you to go to Elena's place and tell her she can come back if she's up for it but be sure to let her know that if we need to deal with another stunt from her ... she's out again" He said and Martin smiled „ Ok ... but what are your plans ?" he asked and Jack smiled back at him.

„ Like I said ... we need more people ... so ... I have a certain prisoner to bust out ... " he said and Martin grinned „ Good luck with that" he said before leaving Jack alone. The older man looked after him „ Yeah ... you too" he said softly and then slowly followed him towards the elevator.

********************************************************************************************************************

26 hours missing

At Diego's place

„ Well you're the last person I expected to find at my door" a short black haired and bearded man said as he saw two people standing outside. Carlos grinned as he was pulled into a hug „ Hello Diego ... how have you been ?" he asked . Marquez let him go, wearing matching grin on his own face „ Good ... I've been good ... and so have you ... as I see ..." he said looking at Samantha appreaciately and taking her hand to place a soft kiss on it. „ Welcome to the Casa of Marquez ... Mrs. Aguilar. It's pleasure to meet you" he said and Samantha's eyes grew wide at that.

„ What? No ... no ... " she said as she pulled her hand away „ We are not married ..." she said and Diego looked at Carlos „ You are not ?" he asked in confusion and the man smirked „ No ..." he said „ And I'm sorry to say that this is not just a friendly visit ... this young lady here is agent Spade ... from FBI ... and I'm her partner for the time

being ..." he explained while Samantha showed her badge to the man in front of them. Diego glanced at it . His face hardened and he crossed his arms on his chest as he glared at them.

„ Well that's all very nice ... but I don't see why you're here. I have no problem with law ... and most certainly not with FBI" Diego said and Samantha nodded. „ We know ... and you are not the reason why we are here ... it's your brother" she said and at that Diego's face softened again and he unfold his hands. „ Antonio ? What ... do you want from him ?" he asked and Carlos let out a sigh. „ We have reasons to believe that he's involved with a disappearance of one of our old mutual friend ..." he said. Diego raised his eyebrow „ Disappearance as a ... kidnap ?" he asked and getting a short nod from his friend as an answer he let out a dry chuckle „You must be kidding me . Who ?" he asked with interest and Carlos just stared at him for a while.

„ Daniel Alvarez ... now better known as special agent Danny Taylor ... from FBI" he said and at that Diego's face lost signs of amusement again and he just stood there for a while „ Come on in ... I'll make you some tea" he said after a moment of silence already walking back into his house. Carlos and Samantha exchanged looks before following in and closing the door after themselves.

„ I'm sorry for the mess ..." Diego said walking through the living room and towards his kitchen, two of his guests not far behind. „ I just arrived back from my vacation trip yesterday ... didn't have time to clean up before I left" he said picking up a pair of pants from the floor and placing them on the back of the armchair as he passed it.

„ Do you live here alone, Mr. Marquez ?" Samantha asked curiously looking around as he walked „ Usually ... no ... I have a wife and two wonderful kids ...both boys " Diego said as he finally stopped in front of his kitchen cabinet and opened the door to look in.

„ You guys take a seat ..." he said. And Carlos and Samantha happily complied.

„ But you're alone now ... what happened ? Problems in paradise ?" Carlos asked and Diego who was still searching for something chuckled lightly „ No ... everything's is just peachy between me and Yasmine ... she Casper and Frank just stayed at her parents house a little longer. I had to come back because of my work " he said and finally pulling away from the cabinet he showed the box of tea „ I hope peppermint is ok with you guys ... I can't seem to find anything else" he said and Samantha smiled „ Peppermint suits just fine ... thanks" she said and Diego smiled back when Carlos agreed. „So tell me ... what do you do for living ?" the ex-policeman asked and Diego who was filling the waterheater with water and switched it on. He then turned to look at Samantha and Carlos with a smile.

„ I'm one of those ... so called .. amateur artists actually. I have a gallery opening a day after today and that's why I had to come back from my trip ... there's a lot of things to take care of." He said and Samantha raised her eyebrow at that „ Really ?" she said as she looked around „ You must be the first artist without having their own or at least some kind of paintings on their home walls. Not in the kitchen ... I didn't notice any of them in the living room either ..." she commented and Diego turned his back on her as he started to pour hot water on three cups he had taken out before.

„ That's because my paintings are rather ..." he paused to clear his throat „ Erotic ... my boys are five and seven ... too early to start poisoning their minds ... don't you think ?" he asked and recieved a bark of laughter from Carlos and a shy smile from Samantha as a response. „ What's the absence of paintings by other artists conserned ..." Diego continued as he placed tea cups in front of his visitors. „ I would love to have Dali's Melting Clocks on my wall ... the problem is ... some people may have money growing from their trees ... unfortunatelly ... I'm not one of them" he said as he now sat down as well.

„ Do these answers satisfy your suspicious mind, agent Spade ?" he asked and Samantha smiled again „ Very much so ... thank you" she said and Diego just hummed as he lift his cup on his lips to take the first zip. „ Now ... I believe you have some questions about my brother" he said after a moment of silence.

„ Yes ... but first I'd like to ask you about Marci" Carlos said and Diego sighed „ If you want to know if police finally caught the bastard who killed her ... then the answer is no ... they tried to find him for three months more after you and Daniel took off ... Unfortunatelly they didn't find anything new or useful ... so they finally just brushed it off as a suicide and stopped looking" he said and Carlos just stared at him. „ I'm sorry to hear that" he said and Diego nodded. „ Yeah ... it's a shame ... the asshole is still somewhere out there ... and noone cares" he said and a small silence fell over the three companions again.

„ That's not true" Samantha finally said „ Someone does ... he cares too much to realise that he has a wrong man ... that he's punishing a good and decent guy who has never hurt or killed anyone unless he has to ..." she said and Diego just stared at her. „ Daniel was the last person to see my sister alive, agent Spade ..." he said „ I never found him guilty just because the fact that he slept with her ... but Antonio ..." he paused and Samantha nodded. „ Yes ... I know ... Carlos already told me" she said and Diego nodded back at her.

„ Do you know if he still blames us ?" Carlos asked and Diego shrugged „ I don't know ... it's not like we're talking ..." he said and Samantha frowned „ Why not ?" she asked and Diego sighed „ About six months ago ... we had a huge fight ... he wanted to come and stay with us ... He told us a story how he had lost his girlfriend and apartment and job at the same time ... and how he didn't have anyone else to turn to ..." Diego paused to sigh again „ I wanted to help him ... I really did ... but we were living in a small apartment in L.A. back then ... there really wasn't any room for him ... plus there was the money issue ... if he had no job that meant he was hoping for us to keep him up ... our family is struggling in problems as it is ... there was no way we could afford to have another mouth to feet" he explained and Carlos nodded.

„ So you turned him down" he said and Diego just stared at him „ Well not exactly ... I let him stay for one night ... the next day I told him that he has to go. I gave him money for hotel room and Yass made some food for him to take with him ... and ... he refused to accept both. He said that he just wanted a roof over his head not our pity or charity and rushed out of the door ..." he said and Samantha raised her eyebrow at that „ And is that the last time you saw your brother ?" she asked and Diego nodded. „ Yes ... that's the last time I ever heard from him. I tried to reach him on my cellular couple of times dialing the number he gave me ... oh ... about three years ago. It keeps telling me that the owner of the phone is out of range ... or that it's turned off" he said and Carlos sighed.

„ So you don't know where we could find him ?" he asked disappointedly and Diego smiled apologetically „ I'm sorry, mate ... I have absolutely no idea" he said and Carlos let out another sigh. „ It's ok I guess ..." he said and then looked at Samantha „ Do you have more questions or ... ?" he asked and the woman smiled „ No ... we're good to go" she said standing up and shaking hands with Diego. „ Thank you for your time and good luck with your gallery" she said and Diego smiled back at her.

„ Thank you ... good luck with finding Daniel. I hope you'll manage to catch my brother before it's too late" he said and Carlos who was now standing in front of him frowned slightly „ So you believe that Antonio could be all behind this shit ?" he asked as he and Diego walked towards the front door. „ Antonio has not been himself after Marci's death. If you think he could be responsible for Daniel's disappearance ... then he most probably is" he said and Carlos nodded slightly before giving a brief hug to Diego.

„ It was good to see you, mate" he said and Diego grinned „ You too ..." he said and waved at Samantha who was already at their rental car they had gotten themselves from the airport. „ Have a nice trip back" Diego yelled after Carlos's retreating back before disappearing into the house again.

„ Do I even have to tell you how fucking deep trouble you are right now ?" Samantha asked when Carlos finally reached her. „ Me ?" he asked „ What the hell did I do ?" he asked and Samantha just stared at him. „ Well it's more about what you didn't do actually ..." she said and Carlos frowned „ What ?" he asked. „ You said that Antonio and Diego were brothers ... you never said they were identical twins !" she said and Carlos just stared at her „ They might be twins but they are not identical ... especially not now when Antonio has gone through all those surgeries ..." he wanted to continue but Samantha cut him off „ Oh cut the crap, Carlos ... Antonio has never gone under the knife ... you just made that up to cover yourself ... you had to come up with an excuse to explain why you lied about not recognizing the man the first time we showed you the picture ..." she said and Carlos just stared at her again.

„ You just wait until Jack hears about this ... I assure you ... he will not be happy with you. Not happy at all. Seriously Carlos ... you want us to stop suspecting you have a part to play in Danny's kidnapping ? Stop acting like an idiot and stop giving us reasons to think that you organized all this shit ..." she said. „ I didn't ..." Carlos started to protest but Samantha cut him off again „ Just shut up and get in the car" she ordered already getting in herself. Carlos was about to say something else but then just setteled with a sigh and did as he was told.

Soon enough the FBI agent and ex-policeman drove off ... not having a clue that they were being watched from the window by the man wearing the most satisfied and evil of smiles on his face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Justice Faded **

**Author's Note:** Before we go on with this story ... I have to warn you about this chapter. Things are getting weird ... and some things are most certainly not suitable for the people under the age of 15 to read. Of course I'm not naive enough to think that this warning would keep youngsters away ... but it's my duty make you aware of the disturbing things the story now contains.

**Chapter 5**

„ Well this is fun ..." Carlos said as he looked at the woman sitting next to him at the wheel. „ A very nice sense of humor agent Malone, has ... eh ? Forcing us to be locked in the same car together ... watching the man who now has become our suspect ..." he said . Elena was silent and refused to look at him. „ You think Danny has just as fun as we do right now?" the ex-policeman asked and earned an angry glare for response.

„ You know what would make this assignment a bit more tolerable ?" she asked and Carlos smiled softly „ What ?" he asked and she smiled back at him but then turned serious „ If you kept your fucking mouth shut !" she snapped „ I can't stand to hear your voice ... so shut the fuck up" she said and Carlos turned serious as well as he sniffed.

„ Oh sorry ... just tried to have a little conversation" he said and Elena's frown deepened „ Well don't ... ok ... I don't want to talk ... especially not about Danny ... and especially not with you ..." she said and stared at Carlos to get her point across and then turned to look out of the windshield again. Carlos kept his eyes on her for a while, then sighed and turned to look out of the window on his side.

„ You mind if I turn on the radio ?" he asked after a long moment of silence, his hand already outstretched towards the power on button. „ Yes ... I do mind ... a lot

actually ..." she snapped and Carlos froze „ It's a distraction neither of us needs right now" Elena added a bit more friendly and the man sighed as he let his hand fall down on his lap and he silently stared out of the window again.

„ You do realize that Diego probably knows we're here ... that's why he hasn't left the house for ..." Carlos paused to look at his handwatch „ Thirty minutes " he said and Elena sighed but didn't say anything. She then turned to look at her ex-husband

„ Maybe you should just go in there ... confront him ... make him confess everything he's hiding ..." she said and Carlos sneered „ Right ... that would go down well ... what do you suggest ? I go in there be all friendly and then during meaningless chitchat bring up Danny ? Demand to tell me where he's holding him ? Tell him he'd do himself a favor if he gave himself in along with his brother ?" he asked and Elena just stared at him for a while.

„ You know ... that's not a bad idea ..." she said and Carlos snorted „ Of course it isn't ... if Diego is really involved in this shit ... I'd be shot in the head before I could even blink !" he said and paused to sneer again „ But it's not like you would feel bad if I died ... or anything ..." he said and Elena again stared at him but once again didn't say a word. Then suddenly she started the car and was about to drive away when Carlos stopped her covering her hand with his own.

„ What the hell are you doing ?" he asked and Elena looked at him „ If you are right and Diego has become careful not to do anything suspicious because he knows that we're keeping watch on him ... then there's no point for us to sit here and waist our time, is there? We need to go back to the headquarters ... talk to the others and set up a plan" she said and Carlos just stared at her for a while „ And what if I'm wrong ? What if he comes out any second to lead us to Danny without having any idea that we're following him ? What then ?" he asked and Elena glanced at him „Then I'm ready to take the whole responsibility for royaly screwing up ..." she said and without letting Carlos to protest she turned her car around and headed towards the freeway.

The ex-policeman kept glaring at her for a while and then let out a deep sigh before picking up his phone and dialing Jack's number. „ Agent Malone ... we have a reason to believe we were discovered and therefore had no reason to stay on a watch " he said

„ We're heading back to discuss our next moves" he said and listened for Jack's response, surprised by the lack of anger in the man's voice. „ Yes sir ... bye" Carlos said to the phone, hang up and turned to look at Elena.

„ Why do I have a feeling agent Malone purposely sent us on this pointless mission knowing well that we wouldn't be succesful on finding anything out ?" he asked and Elena smirked keeping her eyes on the road „ That's because it's what Jack does ... no matter how critical the situation ... he always finds some time to teach us a lesson..." she said and Carlos raised his eyebrow at that „ Oh ? And what exactly were we supposed to learn out of this little adventure ?" he asked and Elena glanced at him, her smirk still in place „That was the first lesson called 'The technique of surviving being in a small space without getting violent and killing the person you're with '" she said and grinned at Carlos's bark of laughter. She glanced at him again" Trust me ... he is not even half through with us. He's probably going to keep pairing us up from now on" she said.

„ Oh the horror !" Carlos exclaimed earning a heartfilled laughter from his ex-wife.He observed her profile for a while when she was consentraiting on driving and a slow smile appeared on his face as he felt pleased that they could actually joke with each other now. The case they were working on was everything but easy, as the time passed by it got more and more difficult for all of them. Even for Carlos himself. He didn't admit it out loud but he was truly worried about Danny ... he silently prayed that his old friend would be strong enough to hang on until they finally found him. There was no doubt in his mind that eventually they'll get him back well and alive ... all that Danny had to do was to hang on.

In the middle of nowhere

The man groaned in pleasure as he felt something familiar and hard pushing inside

of him ...

Some time ago he wished that he could just die rather than be abused like this ...

He didn't really know when exactly but for his own horror he suddenly stopped thinking like that and started to anticipate for his captor to return ...

He moaned when the named man brought his hands on his hardened nipples and started to play with them while slowly picking up the rhythm of his thursts ...

_Yes ... fuck me ... fuck me ... FUCK ME _

He thought without feeling ashamed in the least ...

He let his head drop backwards to rest against his enemy's shoulder and gasped when one of the man's hand suddenly took hold onto his erection ... which of course ... he also wasn't ashamed of ...

Not anymore ...

It was amazing feeling that took over him ...

What was being done to him was so wrong ... and yet it somehow felt so right ...

A part of him was feeling pleased ... happy even ...

It was the part of him that he had kept hidden away ...

The part which he had locked up into some deep and dark place inside of himself ...

A part that was never supposed to be found ....

Having Antonio hitting his prostate with every movement ... made him see stars ...

He shivered as he felt hot and cold at the same time ...

The big freezer filled with dead animals was certainly the least of places he had ever dreamed of having sex in ...

Somehow it didn't bother him ...

Somehow ... it made him crave for more ...

„ Yes !" he suddenly shouted while being sexually assulted by the man who did this just to punish him ...

„ Fuck me Antonio ! Fuck me harder ! Just fuck me ... fuck me ... fuck me ... Fuck ... Please ... Just fuck ME !" he blurted out loud.

Once again ... feeling no shame at all ...

Antonio chuckled behind him and gave him a hard slap against one of his butt cheeks before granting him his wishes ...

Danny grinned blissfully as he was being taken by the man he actually hated for these actions ...

_Right now ... I don't care who he is ...I just want this ... I want to be owned like this ... I want to be taken against my will ... I want to be screwed ... fucked ... buggered ... whatever ! I want this ! Oh yeah ... fuck me Antonio ... Fuck me ... fuck me ... fuck me ... fuck ... ME ! _

He thought.

A sudden laughter which came out of him was mixed with the sounds of pleasure he couldn't stop escaping from his lips ...

_Look at me ! _

He thought

_I'm a slut ! I'm a slut who craves for the cock of a man who hates me ... I want to be fucked by the man who kidnapped me from my home just to do this ! And I never ever want this to stop ! I'm a SLUT ! _

His laughter was interrupted by the scream of pleasure which was coming from himself while the man behind him kept on shooting his load inside of him ...

Antonio's hand was moving back and forth on Danny's length and it didn't take long until the FBI agent shamessly let himself go and splurted his cum all over his captor's hand and on his own stomach ...

_Oh GOD ... _

Danny thought as Antonio pulled himself out of him and walked out of the fridge without saying a word ...

Left alone Danny let out a soft whimper ...

_Oh God ... how can this be happening ? How can I possibly want this ... How can I possibly want to be raped over and over and over again ... ? __Antonio is raping me ... and I ... I don't mind ... Fuck ! I've ... I've really lost my mind ... He just left ... and I already want him to come back ... what the hell is happening to me ? _

Suddenly he felt disgusted of himself ...

The mixed smell of sex and blood hit his nostrils for the first time and the nausea took over him ...

He shivered in cold ...

And ...

Few seconds before his mind could register what was happening his head fell on his chest and he puked on himself ...

After he was finished he slowly lift his head and couldn't help the hysterical laughter again ...

He laughed until his eyelids grew heavier by the second and he suddenly felt himself pulled into the blissful darkness and peace ... he fell asleep ... refusing to remember what he had just experienced ... refusing to see anything in his dreams ... refusing to dream of being at home with the woman he loved ...

At Yasmine's parents place

„ Can I help you ?" a blacked haired and dark skinned woman in a wheelchair appearing from her garden asked as she noticed two men she didn't recognize standing at her door. One of them was peeking through the window and jumped in startlement as he heard her voice. „ Oh hello" Martin said stepping down the stair closer to her and pulling out his badge „ Agent Fitzgerald and Alvarez ... FBI" he said not really noticing Rafael's surprised eyes on him for being labeled as an agent as well.

„ We're looking for Mrs. Yasmine Marquez ... could you tell us where we could find her please ?" Martin asked and the woman looked at him suspiciously „ It depends on what you want from her" she said and Rafael who was still standing at the door looked down on her „ We have some questions about her husband ... Diego Marquez ... ?" he said and at that Yasmine frowned slightly.

„ Husband ?" she said and when the both men nodded she chuckled softly „ Well ... what's Mrs. Marquez conserned ... you're looking at her ... but ... there's some misunderstanding ... Diego is not the man I'm ... was ... married to. He's my brother in law. " she said and Martin and Rafael exchanged looks before the latter of them walked down the stairs to stand next to his partner.

„ Are you sure ?" Rafael asked stupidly and blushed slightly in embarrasment at the look the woman was giving him. He was about to apologise when Martin cut him off „ We are just asking because one of our agents talked to Diego earlier today and he said that you were his wife ... do you have any idea why he may have done so ?" he asked and the woman just stared at him for a while, thinking it through and then sighed.

„ I don't know ... I ... I ..." she said, paused a slight frown on her face „ I really don't know why he would lie to you ..." she said and Rafael and Martin exchaged looks again.

„ Well that's simple" Rafael said out loud „ He lied to us because he has something to hide ..." he paused, clenched his teeth and growled „ Or rather ... someone ... " he said angrily. The woman stared at him „ What is that supposed to mean ?" she asked.

Rafael was about to tell her but Martin interrupted him „ Do you know where we could find your husband, mrs. Marquez ?" he asked and the woman turned her attention to him.

„ Sure ..." she said seriously „ Why don't you check on the graveyard a couple of miles from here to south ... you should find him next to his sister's grave ... he's been there for a while ... " she said and at that Martin and Rafael's eyes grew wide and they looked at the woman in pure shock and disbelief.

„ He ..." Rafael paused and cleared his throat „ Are you ... are you saying that Antonio Marquez is dead ?" he asked and Yasmine nodded slowly „ Has been for couple of years now ..." she said and the two men just stared at her. „Wha ... what happened ... I mean..." Martin paused and Yasmine sighed. „ There was a car accident ... we were on our way to our honey moon when a black truck came out of nowhere and rammed us off the road. We rolled over our roof couple of times and then ended up against a tree. The limousine driver and I were lucky ... All I got was a broken spine ... and he ... well I guess his ego was more broken than anything else ... he always thought about himself as a great driver who can bring everyone out alive from no matter how dangerous of situation. Two years ago ... he failed himself just as much as he failed Antonio" she said.

Rafael and Martin just stared at her . „ Who was the driver ?" Martin asked and when the woman refused to answer and turned to look away Rafael growled again. „ It was Diego ... wasn't it ?" he asked and at a short nod of her head he was about to say something else but Martin suddenly cut him off. „ We have to go now. Thanks for your time , mrs. Marquez and we're sorry for your loss" he said, grabbing Rafael's arm and dragging him towards their car. Yasmine stared after them a confusion obvious on her beautiful features and then she turned and rolled herself up from the inclined plane and then disappeared into the house.

„ What the hell are you doing ? We can't leave now !" Rafael yelled at Martin as they stopped at their vehicle and he pulled his arm free from the other ignored him by not giving him any answers and pulled out his phone instead. „ Sam ... hi ... it's Martin ... listen ... I need a favor." He said into his cellular as the woman he called picked up „ I need you to try and find out why there hasn't been any records about Antonio Marquez's death in a car crash two years ago" he said and then sighed.  
„ No ... I'm afraid this is not a joke. Rafi and I just talked to the widow ... Yasmine Marquez ... turns out that Diego isn't the one who is married to her ... Antonio was." He said and then listened Samantha's response to that news. „ Yeah ... you do that . Thanks" he said and then after hanging up the phone looked at Rafael who just stared back at him.

„ What now ?" the older of Alvarez's brothers asked and Martin shrugged „ Now ...we'll go and light some candles in the graveyard" he said sitting into the car. Rafael stared towards the house they had just visited couple of minutes ago and then with a deep sigh he followed the suit and sat into the car as well.

In the house the woman nervously bit her nail as she waited for the person she was calling to pick up. „ Hi ... it's me" she said after a sleepy voice answered her

„ Something strange is going on. I need to see you ... now" she said and when the person on the other side gave her the agreement of meeting her she slowly stood up from his wheelchair and walked to the mirror.

„ You've gone too far ..." she said softly glaring at her reflection „ But it's ok ... it's not too late ... we can fix things ... today ... everything's going to change." She said, gave herself a wink and went to sit back into her wheelchair. She was not ready to betray herself ... not yet.


	6. Chapter 6

**Justice Faded **

**Author's Note:** Before we go on with this story ... I have to warn you about this chapter. Things are getting weird ... and some things are most certainly not suitable for the people under the age of 15 to read. Of course I'm not naive enough to think that this warning would keep youngsters away ... but it's my duty make you aware of the disturbing things the story now contains.

**Chapter 6**

32 hours missing

It was silent apart from someone panting and a sound of a shovel being hit into the ground, dirt being lifted from it's place and being let fall down again to form a pile next to the hole that was purposely created.

It was dark apart from the few beams of moonlight reaching down on the earth through the thick treetops of the trees growing in the garden which would never be suspected to be used as a perfect crime scene from day after day.

It was calm apart from the soft breeze that happily ran through the disholved hair and clothes, cooling down the man who was stopping his movements just to brush off the sweat that had appeared on his forehead. It was hot and the small wind felt really like a blessing as the man kept on digging the hole he hoped would be finished before the sunrise ...

„_You told them what ?!" asked the man sitting on couch. The woman near the window shrugged „ We never agreed I would lie for you ...." she said calmly and the man frowned but didn't say anything for a while „ __We were supposed to be a family." He said and the woman rolled closer to him on her wheelchair „ Yeah well ...even the loyalty of family members has it's limits ... You crossed the line, Diego ... you went too far by causing trouble and bringing FBI into this ..." Yasmine said and the man just stared at her, feeling betrayed and deeply disappointed by the events that had taken place without him knowing about them first. _

The neatness of the garden was flawless apart from some flowerbeds which were abandoned right after their owners left without naming the heirs who would take care of them. It was kind of sad how the high bushes of weed were slowly smothering the beauty of blossoming roses ... daffodils ... tulips ...

„ _Woah__ ... whe-where did this come from ... ??" the man asked as he came face to face with the silver butcher knife held in a stedy hand of the woman he thought was paralayzed for life. The woman sneered at him coming closer and pressing the tip of the weapon under his chin just next to his Adam's seemed sharp enough to cut through his throat with ease and the man swallowed hard as the pictures of his past slowly started to appear behind his closed eyelids „ What's the matter Diego ... ?" the woman asked „ Scared ... ?" she asked moving away slightly and laughed cruely at the obvious fear that was reflected in the dark eyes which opened to glare daggers at her. _

The sky was plain apart from the source of the light and few stars which were shining brighter than the man digging the hole had ever seen them shine. He took a pause and stared upwards praying for strength to continue as he thought he saw a falling star speeding across the sky, small sparks of fire following it's way down.

„_Now look what you made me do" Diego muttered softly as he looked at the woman slowly sliding on the floor holding her abdomen where the knife had landed after the brawl they had. The woman looked up to him with glazed eyes and he smirked as he slowly squatted down to look back at her „ __Feels good ... doesn't it ?" he asked and without waiting or letting the woman to answer he took the hold on the knife's handle and twisted it forcefully making Yasmine scream in horrendous pain. She paled as the man held the knife in place pushing it deeper and deeper inside of her gut. She was gasping for breath and kept on coughing out blood until she let out her last breath before falling into eternal sleep with her eyes wide open. _

His job finally done the man stared down at his masterpiece which turnedout to be a freshly digged and covered grave. „ Have a nice honeymoon" he said with an evil grin, stopped in front of spot where he had dumped his brother two years ago and spat on it's invisible name plate before turning and walking away while whistling a happy tune from some TV commercial he had recently seen. He was quite pleased with the way things worked out for him. _Oh yes ... I'm quite pleased indeed ... _he thought, picking up the speed of his steps as he remembered who was waiting for him in his secret hide out. His grin widened and soon enough he practically ran home not capable of suppresing his urges to touch that soft tanned skin again.

***********************************************************************

In the FBI headquarters

„ Well ..." Jack said as he read the report he had recieved from the cororner „ The DNA of the skeleton you digged up from that grave yard didn't match with the sample we had stored ... whoever was burried down there ... it most certainly wasn't ... " he said looking at his team members who were sitting around the conference table „ The man is not Antonio Marquez" he finished his sentence. „ What ?" Rafael asked as he jumped up on his feet. „ What do you mean it's not Marquez ? It has to be ! His wife told us so" he said and Samantha sighed.

„ Well I hate to break it to you ... but she lied." she said „ I called at every possible police station near the area where the supposed accident happened ... none of them knew a thing about it. I also called all the morgues nearby ... they have never brought in a guy named Antonio Marquez ... as long as they are conserned ... Antonio Marquez is very much still alive ..." she said and Martin looked at her in disbelief.

„ How ... how is that possible ?" he asked. Samatha sighed „ I don't know ... but it gets even better ..." she said seriously „ Namely ... I also called the local hospital and asked if they have ever had a patient called Yasmine Marquez. They looked it up for me and confirmed that a woman by that name was brought in two years ago ... she had been involved in a car accident in which she lost her ability to walk ... so she didn't really lie about that ... but ..." she paused and Elena frowned slightly.

„ But ... ?" she asked and Samantha just stared at her co-workers for a while „ When I asked if someone else was brought in with her ... they also confirmed that she was alone. I went back to calling the police stations and after waiting for a while they sent me report about the accident she was in. The information matched with the statement of the hospital ... she was alone in the car. And she wasn't driving the limo ... it was a black BMW...and she was not rammed out of the road ... she fell asleep at the wheel ... because she was full of drugs and also alcohol ... According her record ... after being released from the hospital ... she spent three and a half of months in jail for that" she said and everyone were silent for a long long time.

„ Alright ..." Jack said finally breaking the silence. „ This is what we're going to do ... Rafi ... Martin ... you are going back to Mrs. Marquez place ... beat the whole truth out of her if you need to ... do everything you can to make her talk about what really happened to Antonio ... get as much answers about Diego as you can" he said . The two men nodded and were out of the headquarters faster than wind. Jack looked at Samantha.

„ Pressure the coroner to try and find out who we have in the lab ... it could be someone who has gone missing ... if that's so I feel it's our obligation to inform his family that he has finally been found" he said. Samantha also nodded and rushed to her desk to pick up the phone and make the call.

Jack stared at her back for a while and then turned to Elena and Carlos who were still sitting at the table. „ I think you know what you must do" he said silently and when the both of them also stood up he grabbed the man's arm „ Alone ... and not unprepared ... don't even try to play a hero ... if things go bad ... you call for backup ... immediately. You understand ?" he asked and at the ex-policeman's nod he let him go to get ready for his mission. Elena stood up and was about to follow him when Jack stopped her

„ Stay low ... No matter what ... don't be seen this time ..." he said and Elena smiled softly „ Don't worry ... I won't be" she said and Jack nodded.

„ Rafi and Martin will meet you there as soon as they have gotten the information from the widow. Sam and I will be nearby as soon as we get everything taken care of here." he said. „ That's good to know" Elena said her soft smile still on place and after a long eyecontact with her boss she left him alone with his thoughts.

**********************************************************************

35 hours missing

„ Mrs. Marquez ?!" Martin yelled as he kept pounding on the door that remained closed.

„ Mrs. Marquez ?!" he kept on going but the woman did not answer him and he let out a sigh as he looked at Rafael standing next to him.

„ Go and see if there's another entrance in the back, would you ? I'll try to unlock this door" he said already taking out his burglary equipment. He really wasn't in a mood to run down the door, besides ... he wanted to look this walking in as natural as possible. Not giving out any hints of a break in. „ Alright" Rafael said as he pulled out the gun he had been given after he temporarily joined the team and headed towards the garden around the corner and behind the house.

About three and a half minutes later Martin was about to walk in the house through the front door when Rafael stopped him by calling out for him. The FBI agent pulled out his own gun and joined his friend's brother in the garden.

„ What is it, Rafi ?" he asked and then just stared at the other man when he walked out of a small wooden shed pushing an empty wheelchair in front of himself. „ What the

hell ... ?" Martin began and Rafael sighed „ It's not all ..." he said seriously leading the shocked FBI agent under the trees where he had noticed something weird. When they neared Martin gasped as he saw what Rafael thought he saw.

„ It's a bone" he said putting on his glove and picking the item up. Rafael made a disgusted face as he looked at it „ It seems freshly cleaned by some animal " he croaked out „ Do you think it's human ?" he asked and Martin turned to look at him after bagging their finding. „ There's only one way to find out" he said pointing at two shovels which casually seemed to rest against the wall of the house.

„ This one has been used recently" Rafael said as he neared with the two tools in his hands and showed the one which had some fresh dirt attached to it to Martin who nodded. „Right ..." he said „ Let' s find out how ..." he said taking the named shovel from Rafael and shoved it into the ground. Rafael just stared at him for a while and then started to dig next to him.

Side by side they were digging until they found a dead body which the two men identified as Yasmine Marquez and one older skeleton which belonged to ...

„ Hello Antonio ..." Martin said softly as he stared down at the skull of the man who was staring back at him with his empty eyes. „ We were wondering where you had gone off to ..." he added and exchanged looks with Rafael who let out a deep sigh and rested his head against the handle of the shovel he had been using. Feeling very tired all of a sudden and not knowing if he should feel happy that they made some kind of progress ... or not.

************************************************************************

At the house of the suspect

Carlos didn't expect to be knocked out cold as soon as he pushed open the door that was unlocked. He couldn't say a thing before he fell to the floor and Elena panicked when he didn't answer when she called out for him. She panicked even more when she heard a cold chuckle.

„ Sorry mate ..." Diego's voice said „ I should have made it more clear last time ... I don't like uninvited visitors ...especially not the ones working with FBI ..." he added. Soon enough she could hear grunting and panting, giving her a good hint that Diego was trying to pick up her ex-husband from the ground and transport somewhere else.

Through her binoculars she soon saw the man exiting his house dragging the bigger man along and pushing him into his car before sitting in himself and driving away.

Elena didn't follow him right away, avoiding the possibility of Diego finding out that he was being chased. After having her suspect a small head start she picked up her transmitter which she could use to talk with all of her friends at the same time „ Guys .. Diego took Carlos ... they are heading ..." she paused to look at the small monitor which showed a red dot moving on the screen. „ South west from his house ..." she finished her sentence. „ I repeat ... they are heading south west. I'm going to go after them keeping sensible distance" she said and then started her car and drove off waiting for the others to answer.

„ Got it, Elena ... Sam and I will join you from the east in about ten minutes" Jack said

„ Martin and I will be coming from the north" Rafael said „ By the way ..." he said after a moment of silence „ Yasmine Marquez is dead ... and we found her husband." He said when he realized that neither he or Martin had called to inform their team mates after they had made their discovery. „ The way they were burried ..." he paused and then growled angrily. „ I swear to god ... if the asshole killed my brother ... I'll catch him ... tie him up and feed him to hungry homeless dogs while he's still alive ... and none of you ... can stop me. You hear me ? There's nothing you can stop me for having my revenge" he said angrily. Martin who was sitting next to him at the wheel sent him a worried but also an understanding look and kept his silence. Samantha, Jack and Elena who were actually thinking along the same lines and secretly planning to do almost the same thing didn't say anything either. Rafael gave an approving nod at their lack of attempt to talk him out of it and turned to look out of the window.

„ He's alive" Martin said after a moment of silence and Rafael turned around to look at him. „ You ... you don't know that" he said and the FBI agent glanced at him „ I can never be certain until I see it with my own eyes ..." he said „ But ... I will never give up the hope before I see that he's not" he said and Rafael just stared ta him for a while and then nodded „ Right ... hope is all we've got" he said and Martin nodded in agreement

„ Hope is all we've got" he repeated and Rafael once again stared at him before turning to look out of the window again, thinking about which kind of changes will be take place when they bring back Danny alive.


End file.
